NBC, Smash Producer to Present Live Broadcast of The Sound of Music

The network is teaming with Smashproducers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to present a live broadcast of The Sound of Music, based on the original Broadway musical, the network announced Friday.

"It is our supreme pleasure to broadcast -- live -- a new version of the seminal Broadway musical The Sound of Music for a whole new generation," NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement. "There used to be a tradition of broadcasting musicals live back in the 1950s and we're thrilled to do it once again with a musical that has been a family classic for five decades. There is no more talented and creative producing team than Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to bring Rodgers and Hammerstein's final -- and most beloved -- collaboration to network television in this groundbreaking live telecast."

Casting is set to begin immediately, with an airdate expected to be announced shortly. The musical is expected to feature all the classic songs of The Sound of Music, including "Do-Re-Mi" and "My Favorite Things."

Zadan was sure to note that they're not trying to do a remake of the movie version, which "would be artistic blasphemy," he said. "What we want to do, instead, is to give audiences a completely fresh experience of this great Tony Award-winning stage musical in the form of a classic television event, combined with the spontaneity of a live performance. And all of the actors will be singing live; there will be no lip-synching to pre-recordings."